Tom Noe

Corruption was a big issue on election night - and not just the national stories of Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, and the like. Ohio has been wrapped up in the "Coingate" scandal since it broke last spring. Today the primary figure in the scandal,Tom Noe, a top Republican fundraiser, was convicted on 29 criminal counts related to his embezzlement scheme from a rare-coin investment fund he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The Toledo Blade has an in depth story on the man behind the Ohio Coingate controversy, Tom Noe. Noe, along with his wife, was a Bush pioneer, used his campaign cash to buy influence and, after submitting a request to the White House and Speaker Hastert’s office, was granted a seat and ultimately chairman of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. From here, he used his influence and position to get insider information that would benefit his rare coin business.